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Puppetoons
George Pal's Puppetoons were a series of animated puppet films made in Europe in the 1930s and in the U.S. in the 1940s. They are memorable for their use of "replacement" animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs) for each frame in which the puppet moves or changes expression, rather than moving a single puppet, as is the case with most stop-motion puppet animation. The series began when Pal made an advertising film using "dancing" cigarettes in 1932, which led to a series of theatrical advertising shorts for Philips Radio in the Netherlands. This was followed by a series for Horlicks Malted Milk in England. These shorts are notable for their remarkable design (much of it supervised by art director Joop Geesink), often reducing characters to simple geometric shapes. The outstanding replacement animation in these shorts has never been equaled. A typical Puppetoon required 9,000 individually carved and machined wooden figures or parts. Pal came to the U.S. in 1940, and produced dozens of Puppetoons for Paramount Pictures, several of which received Academy Award nominations, including "Tulips Shall Grow", "Jasper and the Beanstalk", "Tubby the Tuba", and "John Henry and the Inky-Poo". In 1956, the Puppetoons as well as most of Paramount's shorts, were sold to television distributor, U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. National Telefilm Associates bought out U.M.&M. and continued to syndicate them in the 1950s and 1960s as "Madcap Models". Pal also used the Puppetoon name, if not the technique, in several of his feature films, including '' The Great Rupert'', '' Tom Thumb'' and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. In these films, the individual wooden figures were billed as The Puppetoons. Filmography (Puppetoons Released By Paramount) 1940 * Gooseberry Pie * Friend in Need 1941 * Dipsy Gypsy * Hoola Boola * Rhythm in the Ranks * Western Daze * The Gay Knighties 1942 * Tulips Shall Grow * The Sky Princess * Jasper and the Haunted House * Jasper and the Watermelons * Mr. Strauss Takes a Walk 1943 * Bravo, Mr. Strauss * The Little Broadcast * Goodnight Rusty * The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins * Jasper and the Choo Choo * Jasper Goes Fishing * Jasper's Music Lesson * The Truck That Flew 1944 * And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street * Jasper Goes Hunting * Jasper's Paradise * Package for Jasper * Two-Gun Rusty * Little Black Sambo * Say Ah, Jasper 1945 * A Hatful of Dreams * Jasper and the Beanstalk * Jasper's Booby Trap * Jasper's Close Shave * Jasper's Minstrels * Jasper Tell * Hot Lips Jasper 1946 * Jasper's Derby * Jasper in a Jam * Together in the Weather * John Henry and the Inky-Poo * Olio for Jasper 1947 * Shoe Shine Jasper * My Man Jasper * Date with Duke * Wilbur the Lion * Rhapsody in Wood * Tubby the Tuba * Romeow and Julicat (Shown in the film Variety Girl) Category:Cartoons